News, Updates & Events | Development Leadership Program (DLP)

New article: The Donor's Dilemma - International Aid and Human Rights Violations

Friday 29th September 2017

A new article co-authored by DLP researcher Niheer Dasandi explores the dilemmas of providing development aid to states that violate human rights.

How Change Happens: Australian seminars 3-6 April by Duncan Green

Tuesday 21st March 2017

Dr Duncan Green presents the ideas from his recent book, How Change Happens, in a series of appearances across Australia next month. Organised by the Research for Development Impact (RDI) Network, the events are co-presented by DLP in partnership with a range of development and research agencies.

Power and systems, and their role in developmental change: Guest seminar with Duncan Green

Tuesday 21st February 2017

Seeing power and complex social systems clearly is the first step towards supporting positive developmental change, says Oxfam Strategic Director and DLP research partner Duncan Green. He discussed the themes of his latest book at a recent International Development Department guest seminar at the University of Birmingham.

'How Change Happens': Birmingham seminar with Duncan Green, 19 January

Monday 9th January 2017

What works in achieving progressive change? How do power and systems shape change, and how can you influence them? Join Oxfam's Duncan Green on Thursday 19 January to discuss the themes of his new book 'How Change Happens'. The presentation will be followed by a drinks reception and book signing.

2016 Adrian Leftwich Memorial Lecture

Thursday 27th October 2016

The University of Manchester's annual lecture in memory of DLP's founding Director of Research, Adrian Leftwich, will be given this year by Nic van de Walle, Professor of International Studies at Cornell University, on Wednesday, 16 November.

Research evidence on DRC presented to International Development Committee

Tuesday 25th October 2016

DLP Research Fellow Suda Perera has presented findings from her research into armed groups and political inclusion in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the UK Parliament's International Development Committee.

Political settlements and public service performance

Friday 15th April 2016

A conference hosted by the UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence, in partnership with DLP and the Centre for Public Impact, focused on the impact political settlements have on the efficiency of public services. Many of the presentations are now available online.

Call for papers for DSA conference panel on political settlements

Friday 8th April 2016

Paper proposals are invited for a panel on political settlements and pathways out of fragility at this year's Development Studies Association conference. The panel convenors are Alina Rocha Menocal and Jan Pospisil. The conference will be held on 12-14 September in Oxford, UK.

Sharing findings on 'Dilemmas of international aid'

Monday 18th January 2016

Niheer Dasandi was among the speakers at a Global Governance Institute event, Power, Development and Messy Politics: Dilemmas of International Aid, on 18 January. He shared findings on how donors could think politically about difficult choices.

New article on political economy analysis and ownership

Thursday 7th January 2016

A new article by Dr Jonathan Fisher and DLP Director Dr Heather Marquette discusses the tensions between development agencies' focus on donor-centric political economy analysis and their interest in fostering partner countries' ownership of development agendas and programmes.

DFID learning event on analysing political settlements

Thursday 27th August 2015

DLP Director Heather Marquette and Senior Research Fellow Alina Rocha Menocal joined a DFID panel discussion today. This asked: 'How can we Analyse Political Settlements, Institutions & Citizens and get a Better Line of Sight to our Country and Sector Programming?'

New book on the politics of evidence and results

Thursday 16th July 2015

DLP's Senior Research Partner Chris Roche is one of the co-editors of The Politics of Evidence and Results in International Development, published this month.

Thinking Beyond Sectors: new book

Wednesday 8th July 2015

DLP Deputy Director David Hudson is one of the contributors to the new open access book 'Thinking Beyond Sectors for Sustainable Development'.

Sharing findings at EU Dev Days 2015

Thursday 4th June 2015

DLP director Dr Heather Marquette was among the speakers this week at European Development Days 2015. She shared findings at a panel discussing how development cooperation can effectively fight corruption and promote good governance.

Sharing findings at INCAF discussions on peacebuilding and statebuilding

Monday 18th May 2015

Dr Heather Marquette leads a team of DLP researchers who will present their work at the OECD this week. They will share findings with two INCAF Task Teams at discussions of the Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Goals on legitimate politics and on revenues and services.

Exploring the international political economy of development

Friday 15th May 2015

DLP research fellow Dr Niheer Dasandi was among the speakers at the New Directions in International Political Economy conference in Warwick this week. He and DLP's Dr David Hudson will be editing Edward Elgar's forthcoming 'Handbook of the International Political Economy of Development'.

How can practitioners 'do governance differently'? DAC GovNet discussions

Wednesday 13th May 2015

Dr David Hudson spoke at an OECD DAC GovNet meeting on 13 May, on how the 'doing governance differently' agenda can be translated into practice.

Development journalism masterclass

Monday 16th March 2015

DLP Senior Research Partner Chris Roche was among a panel of development and media experts delivering the inaugural International Development Journalism Fellowship masterclass in Melbourne last week.

Workshop on 'Doing development differently: can it be managed?'

Tuesday 10th March 2015

This public event in London on April 2 will explore how to support 'Doing development differently'. It is being organised by the University of Birmingham, ODI and RTI International. Prof Richard Batley (UoB), Dr David Booth (ODI) and DLP's Dr David Hudson will chair the workshop.

New evidence paper on corruption

Thursday 5th March 2015

What conditions make corruption possible? What are the real costs of corruption and how can it be fought effectively? A new evidence paper that addresses these questions has been written for DFID by a research team led by DLP Senior Research Fellow Alina Rocha Menocal and Nils Taxell of the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre.

New book chapter: contribution to 'The Politics of Inclusive Development'

Monday 12th January 2015

Senior researcher Claire Mcloughlin is one of the contributors to 'The Politics of Inclusive Development', published this month by OUP. The book is dedicated to the memory of the late Adrian Leftwich, DLP's founding Director of Research.

New concept brief: state legitimacy

Wednesday 3rd December 2014

The origins and durability of a state's legitimacy affect the feasibility of development processes and the effectiveness of external aid interventions. In this three-page Brief, senior researcher Claire Mcloughlin unpacks a slippery, yet important, concept.

Elites in fragile states: from predation to protection

Monday 1st December 2014

On 4 December, Research Fellow Suda Perera will present DLP findings at an expert meeting to help inform Dutch development policy on security and justice.

Parliamentary strengthening: fix the car, or worry about the driver?

Monday 24th November 2014

In a guest post today for the blog From Poverty to Power, Alina Rocha Menocal takes stock of the evidence on parliamentary strengthening.

Seminars by Duncan Green at La Trobe University

Friday 21st November 2014

On Monday 24 November, Dr Duncan Green will give two public seminars at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

Evidence on parliamentary strengthening

Friday 14th November 2014

Senior DLP Research Fellow Alina Rocha Menocal will present evidence on parliamentary strengthening to the International Development Committee at Westminster on 18 November with former colleague Tam O'Neil from ODI.

Presentation at the International Parliamentary Conference on Growth for Development

Wednesday 12th November 2014

DLP's Deputy Director David Hudson will speak next week at the International Parliamentary Conference on Growth for Development in London.

Contributions to debate on aid and anti-corruption work

Monday 10th November 2014

DLP's Director Heather Marquette has commented in 'The Guardian' on the UK aid watchdog's criticism of DFID's impact in tackling petty corruption. She calls the ICAI report 'a wasted opportunity to rethink how we deliver aid with integrity'. Today in 'The Conversation' she suggests ways forward.

Contribution to Guardian discussion on fragile states

Thursday 6th November 2014

Research Fellow Suda Perera was among the expert panellists for a Guardian Development Professionals Network Q&A on 6 November. She drew on her recent research in the DRC to discuss the issue, 'After aid, how can development work in unstable states?'

Security and justice: the first in a new series of literature reviews

Monday 21st July 2014

The first of the Developmental Leadership Program's 'State of the Art' papers is now available. Our SOTA series aims to lay the groundwork for future DLP research by setting out what existing research evidence and development practice tell us about the politics of development in key areas.

New paper on political economy analysis in donor agencies

Thursday 17th April 2014

Has political economy analysis lost its way? Donors Doing Political Economy Analysis: From Process to Product (and Back Again?) is a new DLP research paper by Dr Jonathan Fisher and Dr Heather Marquette.

Panel on primacy of politics in development at PSA 2014

Tuesday 15th April 2014

On 15 April 2014, DLP will host a panel on 'The Primacy of Politics in Development' at the Political Studies Association conference in Manchester, UK.

New GIZ Publication: Triangular Cooperation

Wednesday 13th March 2013

DLP are pleased to present a new publication from GIZ entitled 'Triangular Cooperation: A guideline for working in practice', edited by Julia Langendorf, Nadine Piefer, Prof. Dr. Mich?le Knodt, Dr. Ulrich M?ller, and Lena L?zaro R?ther. Triangular cooperation is an interesting tool for development cooperation, linking North-South and South-South cooperation. However, there are still many open questions. In a joint approach of academia and practice, this publication attempts to give answers and presents illustrative cases to discuss the different aspects of triangular cooperation in practice.

Governance, Politics and Development in the Pacific - A literature Survey

Thursday 31st January 2013

The Australian Aid Program has a strong interest in development issues in the Pacific. Though traditionally it has taken a rather technical, administrative and managerial approach to such issues, its recent public literature (and that of other aid agencies) reflects the green shoots of important new thinking around the importance of political and governance processes that can decisively promote or restrain development - and hence a more effective use of aid resources. This DLP Background Paper provides a short survey of the literature in the field and an assessment of the extent to which such research and policy announcements have really helped to provide and institutionalise a more politically informed understanding of development.

Different Take on Africa - a joint statement

Thursday 3rd May 2012

The Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS), recently brought together five major research groups, including the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP), to discuss and share their findings on the politics of development with special reference to Africa. While each of the research groups approach this key developmental question from different angles, they all explore the diverse ways in which political and policy choices, elites, leaders, informal institutions, incentive structures, coalitions and democratization processes have shaped development trajectories in different contexts. Their findings overlapped on enough common ground to enable the groups to agree a Joint Statement which can now be downloaded from the DLP website.

Coalitions in the Politics of Development - A Workshop Report

Wednesday 18th April 2012

'Coalitions' are part and parcel of everyday politics, everywhere, nationally and sub-nationally and in all sectors and issue areas. They are also central to the inner politics that shape political settlements and help solve collective action problems. Yet we know very little about what makes for successful coalitions, or what the international community can do to support the emergence of developmental coalitions. The workshop brought together practitioners, researchers and theorists from developed and developing societies and this report summarises the important continuities, generalizations and messages that we identified. It is the first in a series of papers that seek to clarify this pervasive feature of the politics of development.

The Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre

Monday 30th January 2012

An important new research centre, funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, has recently completed its inception year and is about to commence its substantive research program. The Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre (ESID) is based at the University of Manchester in the UK, with research partners in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Malawi, Uganda and the US. ESID shares with DLP a commitment to understand better the politics of development. DLP welcomes the formation of ESID and we look forward to close cooperation in sharing ideas, findings and policy messages over the coming years.

New Asia Foundation book on the politics of economic reform in the Philippines

Monday 21st November 2011

The Asia Foundation, supported by USAID and AusAID, today launches an important new book, documenting the politics of some significant economic reforms in the Philippines. Built on Dreams, Grounded in Reality: Economic Policy Reform in the Philippines is a collection of analytical essays by leading development analysts and some of the participants in each of the reform processes. The book has a foreword by Adrian Leftwich, the Director of Research for the DLP. The theme of the book is the role played by 'developmental entrepreneurs' in the politics of reform and it illustrates through a number of cases how and why difficult battles were fought and, in some cases won, in pursuit of reform.

11th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development

Tuesday 13th September 2011

DLP Researcher Laura Brannelly (CfBT) will be presenting the findings of the first phase of DLP's research on Higher Education and Development at the 11th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development in Oxford between the 13th-15th September. The theme for the conference is "Global Challenges for Education: Economics, Environment & Emergency". The main aim of the conference is to move education to the centre of the debate on global challenges in the 21st Century.

USAID Global Workshop on Education and Development: From Evidence to Action

Monday 22nd August 2011

DLP Researcher Susy Ndaruhutse (CfBT) was a plenary speaker at this year's "USAID Global Workshop on Education and Development: From Evidence to Action" between the 22nd-25th August in Virginia, USA. The main purpose of the workshop was to demonstrate the strategic importance of education in achieving US government development goals, and to provide critical and cutting edge training and orientation to USAID education and capacity development sector staff and their present and potential partners. Susy Ndaruhutse's session was entitled 'Mobilizing Higher Education for Developmental Leadership'.

Society for International Development World Congress 2011

Friday 29th July 2011

DLP's Director of Research, Adrian Leftwich, presented at one of the panels at the Triennial World Congress of the Society for International Development (SID), in Washington DC between the 29th-31st July 2011. The panel was entitled "Looking Forward: Pathways toward Inclusion through Political Change" and his presentation was on 'Beyond and below Institutions: organizations, politics and leadership'. The theme of this year's congress was "Our Common Challenge: A World Moving toward a Sustainable Future" and the event brought together professionals from diverse sectors and constituencies to debate critical ideas, policies and practices and to shape future development thinking and policy.

Examining the Drivers of Change in Yemen - a presentation to Australian Government departments

Monday 18th July 2011

DLP Researcher, Dr Sarah Phillips from the Centre for International Security Studies, University of Sydney, gave a thought-provoking and timely presentation on the 8 June 2011 in AusAID in Canberra, entitled "Examining the Drivers of Change in Yemen: Informal Institutions and Agency". Speaking to an audience of AusAID staff and representatives from various government departments including the Departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs and Trade, and other guests, Dr Phillips provided a unique insight into the Yemeni regime's opaque internal politics, and the nature of the patronage system entrenched by President Ali Abdullah Saleh over the past 32 years.

Examining the Drivers of Change in Yemen

Wednesday 8th June 2011

Dr Sarah Phillips, from the Centre for International Security Studies, Sydney University, presented her work on the crisis in Yemen to an audience of Australian officials from across government, and other interested parties, in AusAID on Wednesday, 8th June. Dr Phillips' presentation looked behind the scenes at the Yemeni regime's opaque internal politics and at the nature of the system entrenched by President Ali Abdullah Saleh over the past 32 years. It also discussed the implications of this for Western counter-terrorism policies in Yemen.

New book on 'Ownership and Political Steering in Developing Countries'

Friday 18th March 2011

Donors increasingly recognise the political dimension of development cooperation and that they themselves are political actors. But how can this 'political' role be aligned with the interests and ideas of partner countries, and with the principle of ownership? How are partnerships and mutual trust created and maintained through the ups and downs of daily cooperation? How does policy making take place in partner countries, and how can donor and supply driven cooperation be avoided? This collection of essays, published by GIZ, offers important practical insights for policy-makers and practitioners alike.

New Paper: Ethics and integrity in the politics of developmental leadership

Wednesday 9th March 2011

It is often argued (by the World Bank and other development organizations) that integrity and ethical leadership are critical components of good governance. But what is 'ethical leadership'? What is 'developmental integrity'? How is it achieved? And what are the conditions for sustaining it? This new study by Eduard Grebe and Minka Woermann - intended to help policy-makers think clearly about ethics and integrity in relation to developmental issues - develops a conceptual framework for thinking about integrity and leadership in developmental contexts, not only in terms of individual behaviour, but also in terms of institutions.

A new publication: Higher education and the formation of developmental elites

Monday 21st February 2011

Does higher education have a role in promoting the emergence of developmental leaders and elites? Could higher education play a vital role in producing a pool of people with the capacity and vision to constitute progressive development leadership across sectors? And does higher education contribute to the formation of networks that facilitate the emergence of developmental coalitions? As the first step in a longer program of work to collect the evidence, this research paper surveys the literature on this question and offers a preliminary data analysis.

A new publication: An analysis of leadership development programmes

Monday 21st February 2011

Do 'leadership development programmes' contribute to positive development outcomes or do they only enhance the careers of their participants? Could they do both and, if so, how? What criteria can donors use in deciding whether and how to support, fund, influence or design such programmes? This paper reviews the evidence about leadership development programmes as a tool for development policy. It argues that donor and recipient organisations need to be much more discriminating when choosing to support or design a programme, and that understanding the 'political' nature of leadership is the key to choosing or designing a good programme.

Workshop: Political dimensions of development programming

Tuesday 15th February 2011

The Developmental Leadership Program, in partnership with The Asia Foundation (TAF), ran the second in a series of workshops entitled 'Political Dimensions of Development Programming' in Manila, Philippines from 15-16 February 2011. The workshop brought together TAF Representatives working in the Philippines and the region, AusAID staff based in the Philippines, and selected non-government partners.

New paper on 'Growth Alliances: Insights from Egypt'

Wednesday 5th January 2011

A recent paper in Business and Politics explores the emergence, evolution and forms of 'growth alliances' in Egypt. Professors Abla Abdel-Latif, of the American University in Cairo, and Hubert Schmitz, of the Institute of Development Studies, show how largely informal and politically-negotiated relations helped to shape alliances between some business sectors and key policy-makers without apparently becoming abused for private gain.

The Elephant in the Room: Politics and the Development Problem

Monday 13th December 2010

The Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University hosted a workshop on 13-14 December 2010 entitled "The Elephant in the Room: Politics and the Development Problem".

Political Dimensions of Development Programming

Thursday 2nd December 2010

A joint DLP-Asia Foundation workshop on the Political Dimensions of Development Programming was held in Canberra, Australia, on 2nd and 3rd December 2010 for staff of AusAID.

New papers on 'Political Settlements'

Tuesday 16th November 2010

We draw your attention to two recent papers, one by Dr Bill Cole and Tom Parks of the Asia Foundation (a partner organization of the DLP); and the other by Dr Edward Laws, a DLP Researcher.